David Lloyd column

WHAT a non-event this Second Test is - and not just because of the rain. It is pretty clear the West Indies just don't want to be here, they look like they have no interest in it. I know it is probably uncomfortable for them in this weather, but it is a Test match!

WHAT a non-event this Second Test is - and not just because of the rain.

It is pretty clear the West Indies just don't want to be here, they look like they have no interest in it. I know it is probably uncomfortable for them in this weather, but it is a Test match!

I am not surprised there is nobody here at Durham to watch the game, because it is absolutely freezing - even penguins would have to wrap-up in this weather.

And you can't blame the people of the north east for not packing the ground out - they are all still involved with their teams' all-absorbing football relegation battles.

I don't know why the ECB arranged to play two Tests so early in an Ashes series. Some people have blamed Sky for insisting on seven Tests, well that's wrong. When the TV deal was made the package put up for sale by the ECB was for seven Tests.

I am of the opinion there are simply too many Test matches now. Five in a summer is plenty. And that's the message being sent out by many of the players.

Chris Gayle has since retracted his statement about not being too bothered if Test cricket died off, but I think many a player is thinking it.

Offer

If you talk to former players like myself and Athers, Test cricket is the pinnacle of the sport.

But some current players are looking at the huge crowds, the excitement and, of course, the money on offer from one-day and in particular Twenty20 cricket and think `I fancy a bit of that.'

And when they think about what is going to pay their mortgage over the next few years, Test cricket just can't compete.

Although I can't see Test cricket ever dying, there needs to be some careful administration of the game in the next few years including not playing too many games.

One thing they shouldn't be looking at doing is bringing in floodlit Tests. It's a simple non-starter.

They would have to be played with a white ball and we have seen in one-day cricket playing under lights creates such a discrepancy in how it behaves.

Meanwhile, all the talk of the circuit is about Lancashire and what a great job Peter Moores is doing. Keep it up lads.